Erik Spoelstra says there’s no need for Heat to make roster move after Okaro White’s injury

WASHINGTON — Even with only 12 available healthy players on the Heat’s roster to dress on game nights, Erik Spoelstra said Friday there are currently no plans to make a roster move.

NBA teams are allowed to dress a maximum of 13 players for games, which means Miami is one player shy of that number after Okaro White underwent successful surgery Thursday to repair a fractured left foot. White joins wing Rodney McGruder (left tibia surgery) on the Heat’s injury list, and center AJ Hammons is playing on Miami’s developmental team in Sioux Falls while counting toward the Heat’s 15-man roster because he’s on a NBA contract.

Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra shouts to his team in the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Utah Jazz, Friday, Nov. 10, 2017, in Salt Lake City. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer)

If the Heat want to add a player to the roster for depth purposes, they can look toward Sioux Falls and call on two-way contract players like guards Derrick Walton Jr. and Matt Williams Jr. or even bring up Hammons to the NBA.

“I feel we have enough,” Spoelstra said Friday when asked if a roster move is looming after White’s injury. “I’m not concerned about that at all. That’s more than enough. I’m having a tough time trying to play 10.”

The Heat have recently stuck to a nine-man rotation of Goran Dragic, Dion Waiters, Josh Richardson, Justise Winslow, Hassan Whiteside, Tyler Johnson, James Johnson, Kelly Olynyk and Wayne Ellington. This has left rookie Bam Adebayo without a lot of playing time, as he entered Friday looking for his first game action since Miami’s loss to Golden State on Nov. 6.

Before the start of the regular season, Spoelstra mentioned sending Adebayo to the G League as a possibility if he wasn’t getting enough playing time as part of the NBA roster.

“I’m not at that point right now,” Spoelstra said when asked if Adebayo could be sent to the developmental league. “But if it gets to a point where he’s not playing. I mean, he’s my next guy. That’s the thing. I’m still surprised he hasn’t found a way in. But we’re trying to find consistency right now in a nine-man rotation. That’s what we’re going with. But that doesn’t mean I won’t go differently as we go forward.”